You have GOT to be kidding me. Are people REALLY this stupid? How much common sense does it take to fill one of these orders? If someone's not sure that something should be on a cake, wouldn't you at least CALL the client to ask?! Jeesh! Sometimes I just want to grab these bakers' shoulders and shake them until their (dried-up) brains rattle.

I'm unreasonably amused by the fact that the first cake is an obvious rip-off of the "Thomas" design from yesterday's wrecks.

It also reminds me of when I started my current job, and was sent out of town for a week of training. The same intern who had been in charge of travel arrangements made a name-and-address directory of everybody in the program, including the new people. On the directory that was printed out and distributed to everybody, next to my name was, "Non-smoking room- allergic to cigarette smoke."Just in case any of my co-workers want to invite me for a sleep-over, I guess.

The horrible thing about the "nuts allergy" cake is their complete incomprehension of what to do about it, meaning the cake is most likely NOT nut-safe despite the fact that it was specified on the order form.

I certainly wouldn't feed that cake to a nut-allergic child after seeing those words printed on it.

Yes, it's funny that they wrote it, but not so funny if the kid anaphylaxes because of a cakewreck

I sincerely hope that the "bakers" that piped these cakes don't speak English very well (or at all!) and were just copying letter for letter what the instruction sheet said.That's the only plausible excuse I can think of.Otherwise....well they do say stupidity knows know bounds. Or indifference, as the case may be.

Our friend was in charge of ordering a beautiful, engraved vase for a retiring boss. It was a large silver vase. They engraved it. The last line of the engraving said "and for any questions about this order call Mikki at 555-1234" WHAT are they thinking?!

Jen. I'm positive new submissions have been corrupted. I'm sure that most bakeries across the country have started posting your best work in their break room and decide to let a couple of intentional wrecks slip juuuust in case they end up on your site. I bet somewhere there's a Safeway decorator patting herself on the back right now for "Bring it in the a.m."

The second and third cakes look like they were done by the same person; great job with the pathetically sparse streamers and sprinkles! At least other than the lettering, the first one was pretty decent.

In other news, even if the people decorating don't read English that well, wouldn't their bosses know that and... oh, never mind, obviously I am using waaaaaay too much actual thought here.

I don't see the 'i' dotted in the word 'bring'. Is it 'bring'? Or 'bang'? Maybe...maybe it is a note of encouragement for Mike to do well at something the next day? "Good luck in that race tomorrow, bang it in the am!"

Or...maybe the jeep cake is a reminder note? "Bang it [the jeep] in the morning, preferably with a baseball bat, and turn the key gently three times to the left while the wheels are turned all the way to the right or it won't start." ?

You just can't fix stupid (which is probably a good thing; just think of all the wrecks we'd be missing if you could!). The "Thomas" wreckie from yesterday needs to meet today's "Thomas" wreckie to see how it's done. Sort of.

I've been reading this blog for a few months now, but this is the first time I've posted.

I just have a hard time believing that there are this many stupid people in the world. It makes me a little sad to think about it. So, instead I think I'll go eat a piece of cake to make myself feel better.

I'm just wondering if the ones who take the orders, and the ones who actually decorate the cakes are different people? and to further this idea I'm also wondering if the ones taking the order understand English, and the ones decorating the cakes only pretend to understand English, thus causing them to simply copy down everything that was written. Just wonderin'

Am I the only mom who thinks if my kid had a nut allergy...I wouldn't buy ANY storebought cake. The tiniest trace of nut or oil can cause a reaction. Seriously mom...making a cake at home...way less time than an ER visit...or worse....

I must say that, with the exception of the added "nuts allergy", the thomas the tank engine cake is fantastically executed...especially considering the wreck in the prior article! The penmanship is nice too! C'mon, give them some credit!

Baker 1 "Oh this Thomas cake is done? Looks good, now we just need to do the lettering."Baker 2 "Yeah here's the order slip. It says **NUT ALLERGY** really big, underlined with asterisks. You think they want that on the cake, so they can identify it?"Baker 1 "I dare ya."

So, I submitted the 40th bday cake at the bottom (not sure who Larissa is).

Yes, it's a bed of nails. George the Giant, sideshow performer at your service. www.georgethegiant.com :)

His wife didn't fill out the form wrong, she wrote the directions in the "INSTRUCTIONS" box, along with the directive to have the photo cover the top of the cake. They actually shrunk an 8x10 down to 5x7. No idea where they got that from.

Is it, perhaps, customary for the chain-food bakers to do several rounds of shots prior to the days' decorating?? I just can't get my head around how someone could miss the instructions versus the message.

While they may be taking notes, they aren't following them! The 0 in the 40th cake is SUPPOSED to be a heart and yet it is just a plain '0' lol....eh..at least they wrote out the instructions so you can squint your eyes and PRETEND that 0 is a heart! :)

I really don't know where they're finding these people to employ. I work in a Jewel-Osco, and the college students who work in our bake shop do WAY better than this. I have yet to find a wreck worthy cake in 3+ years of working there. The closest I've come was a giant cookie with "happy bithday".

Oh. Oh! *Candles!* That's what those things are in the last picture. Gee, and I thought the twirly colorful ones were overkill... Well, we either have some very smart aleck-wise-guys running America's bakeries or a bunch of, well, you get the drift. The cakes say it all...literally. :D sigh

I also read cake #2 to say bang it in the a.m. Lol what I can't believe is where did they find these people and why did they hire them to decorate cakes??? My birthday is coming up soon and as I think about ordering a cake I am suddenly very very afraid.

I am the most stunned by the first one. Professionally done, looks beautiful - impeccable - even the writing is lovely. And yet someone that intelligent couldn't figure out that "nut allergy" was NOT FOR the cake??? That's the ultimate face-palm.

I laughed so hard at "Bang it in the am," my husband came across the room to see what was so funny. Needless to say, I think I've heard "bang it in the am!" about 30times since . . .And I'm with 2nd Poster Taylor: "Peter" has a "nut allergy." Oh, god. I can't breathe.

So, I work in a bakery and sometimes the decorators will make mistakes like misread a sloppily written letter, but come on... 1) How could they not look at that and think, "Hmmm... I don't think they wanted that part about making the zero look like a heart on the cake..." and 2) what kind of order forms are they using?? Ours have a CLEAR place for what you want written and what is supposed to be decoration. I just don't get it... did they not stop and say hey, did you want all of this written on there??

I think this is probably an issue of the relationship to the manager. The manager got sick of answering questions, and sick of mistakes. S/he said, "JUST WRITE WHAT'S ON THE ORDER!" in a scary and final way. The employees felt powerless to respond, except through subtle passive-aggressive cake decorating.

becca says...when I worked in a bakery, we had a cake decorator, but the people who worked the counter were also expected to be able to write on the cakes. So anyone who could count to a dozen was allowed to have at the frosting tubes... probably explains how a really nicely done cake can have some nonsensical inscriptions.

it is possible the baker doesnt speak english ... he or she says write message ... n ppl write nothing special or nut allergy ... it will obv trip them up ... n these pictures could come from anywhere in the world

My Daughter told me about this site every time I read these I have to close the door so as not to wake my husband I am giggling so loud. You see he works in a grocery store so he sleeps days and works nights. Your going to get me in serious trouble but keep it up. Please!!!!!Many times you have brought me to tears with laughter. I worked in a store bakery so I have been witness to these wrecks.. lololololololol

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A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

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